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Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. By all accounts it has no right to be, but late in the evening on Wednesday, deep in the suburbs of Bethesda, I get the opportunity to spend a little over an hour teaching sixth graders at Little Flower Parish about the Catholic faith. And in this unassuming assignment, God revealed to me a real, unexpected joy.

This summer I was preparing to enter medical school at Georgetown University when I began to seriously consider entering seminary. It was precisely this human love that prompted it all. True love multiplies. The love of my married friends begets a certain spiritual generativity--it opened my heart to a spiritual reality. Their love and their marriage is, in a very real sense, for the whole world.

The Nats were the oldest team in baseball, but given the fun they had down the stretch, they could have been mistaken for the youngest. The best priests are men who never "grow up.” They remain children at play, living only and always in their identity as beloved sons--completely dependent on a good Father.

Last year I was working as a journalist in New York City. One look at my schedule showed you work came before anything else. I squeezed my faith and friends in as much as I could; time for prayer was sandwiched between meeting a deadline and the subway ride home. Nine weeks in, I haven’t stopped marveling at life in the seminary.

Karol Wojtyla provokes wonder about a life with God. It is a wonder characterized by a desire to know, but it is more than mere curiosity and admiration. Curiosity is only asking questions. Wonder is a desire to experience. With admiration, there is no desire to do more than look on from a distance. But wonder draws us in.

We cannot be unaffected by the persons we love. Like a Newton’s cradle of metal balls, when they are struck by something we are struck by the same blow. This year we felt the joy of the saints on two occasions because we put ourselves right up against them. This is the powerful impact of loving.

“If I have good grounds for believing, to believe is a duty; God will take care of His own work. I shall not be deserted in my utmost need. Faith ever begins with a venture and is rewarded with sight.” -John Henry Newman

I will forever look forward to the day when He sends me back to where the stars comfort me, and the fields are made of gold, but as long as God wants me in D.C., I know there will be joy here too.

Mary’s role in the seminary is a prominent one. We celebrate her in a special way each Saturday, beginning the weekend by praying the Rosary as a community, but our devotion to her goes far beyond a Saturday morning ritual.

The Seminary community is made of seminarians, faculty, and staff. Here is an inside look at the seminary (and the seminarians) from the perspective of St. John Paul II Seminary staff.

Pope Pope Francis released this letter to priests on the 160th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, patron saint of priests.

My friends and I help each other each year by using New Year's Resolutions. For the last five years we have written down our goals and shared them with each other on January 1. My friends and I have shared serious goals, including proposing to girlfriends, drinking more responsibly, and setting aside time to call mom. The seminary...

On a sunny and clear Saturday morning, two days before the Feast of the Annunciation, the houses of Seminary and Religious Formation in the area surrounding the Catholic University of America (nicknamed the “little Vatican”) came together to participate in a soccer tournament named in the honor of Our Blessed Mother: the Copa Inmaculada.

I recently read a line from an instruction by Saint Columban that said, “Wisdom asks: Who will find out what is so very deep? As the depths of the sea are invisible to human sight, so the Godhead of the Trinity is found to be beyond the grasp of human understanding.”

On a Saturday morning in November, the seminary went out to Columbia Heights, a neighborhood of DC with a lot of foot traffic, shops, and a farmer's market in the main square. We came for street evangelization, an element of our formation at the seminary each semester. Why do we go out? How are we sent?

As we reflected on our time this week at the West Virginia Children’s Home, there was a strong sense of satisfaction at days well spent.  

This year, ten St. John Paul II Seminarians and our vice rector are spending our Spring Break on a service trip to West Virginia. We are working at the West Virginia Children's Home in Elkins, West Virginia, and staying at a retreat center not too far away. After driving over on Saturday and settling in, we spent Sunday visiting a parish in the area and visiting with some of the kids who live at the children's home.

Rarely had I felt so small, yet so privileged to be able to witness the Lord at work. I felt I was receiving a bigger gift than they were. Gone was the panic and fear of a few days earlier, all that was left was gratitude. I am filled with gratitude to the Lord for letting be a small part of his plan, and I am excited to continue getting out of His way and letting Him work throughout my time of priestly formation.

At that moment you realize the vast number of people taking part.  However, this large amount of people is not the most amazing aspect of the March for Life. The most amazing part is that it is always a joyful event.  The atmosphere is one of celebration; despite the horrific thing we are there to protest.  There is a sense that we are celebrating life

When I was accepted to Saint John Paul II Seminary, I didn’t know what to expect. I feared that I wouldn’t be as holy or as smart as the other guys. I feared that my personality wouldn’t mesh well with the guys in the house, and especially with my roommate. Now as my second semester begins, I have no concerns about the fraternity here.